BATISTE TAPS JAZZ LEGENDS GARY BARTZ, KENNY GARETT, RON CARTER AND MORE TO COVER THE BEATLES, STEVIE WONDER, DAFT PUNK AND HIS OWN ALBUM WE ARE
Verve Records, Spotify and Electric Lady Studios are pleased to announce the release of musician Jon Batiste’s EP Live at Electric Lady, the first release in the new series announced last week by Spotify and the famous New York studio.
Listen now: https://spotify.link/batistelael
Batiste put together a stellar roster of musicians including jazz legends Ron Carter, Gary Bartz and Kenny Garett to put an unexpected spin on tracks from his critically acclaimed “soul-stirring” (NPR) album released earlier this year, WE ARE, as well as covers of tracks recorded at the legendary Electric Lady Studios.
Never one to do what is expected, Batiste pushed sonic boundaries on this EP and embraced the freedom to experiment with sounds, re-record techniques, and instrumentation. The result is a fascinating, dark, psychedelic jazz journey.
Batiste says, “When Spotify reached out about recording at Electric Lady, the vision of “NEW WORLD MUSIC” came to me. To realize this vision I put together a band featuring the legends Ron Carter on bass and both Gary Bartz and Kenny Garrett on saxes, a full string and horn section, tabla drums and synthesizers—all playing at once, reimagining songs from the WE ARE album, and other songs by The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Daft Punk and more. This recording is where I see music going in the future—global, spiritual, rooted, intricate, communal.”
Jon Batiste – Live at Electric Lady sees Daft Punk’s “Lose Yourself To Dance” in a modernist string quartet take with solos traded from bassist Ron Carter, saxophonist Kenny Garett and others. He covers his own marching anthem WE ARE – this time shifting through different landscapes, featuring a range of styles and voices including the tabla and a snaking, haunting solo by Garett. Batiste takes a tight jazz trio approach to his #1 Radio single “I NEED YOU” and “Whatchutalkinbout” and puts a jazz twist on his Black Folk song “Cry.” Batiste let his musicians run free on the instrumental version of “Pastime Paradise.”
EP Producer William Garrett says of this process, “Jon understands and appreciates stretching sonic boundaries and the power that those choices hold in the conversation with the listener. Starting with We Are, Jon creates a different dynamic and a darker version than the original album cut. The track begins as if being played on an old Victrola and slowly expands into a psychedelic lo-fi jam. From there the EP expands from experimental to vintage sounds.”
- We Are (Kenny Garrett)
- I Need You (Ron Carter, Jon Batiste, Joe Saylor)
- Golden Slumbers – Gary bartz, Ron Carter
- Cry – (Gary Bartz, Ron Carter)
- Lose Yourself To Dance – Kenny Garett, Ron Carter
- Whatchutalkinbout – Ron Carter
- Pastime Paradise – Kenny Garett
- Prince – Ron Carter, Kenny Garett